Page 46 of Haunted Eclipse
A little bell rang. “You hit the nail on the head. I think… Yes. That snake creature that showed up here? I’ll bet it was Edgar and he managed to hitchhike a ride home with me that night. When we patched the break in the grid, he was sent back to your house. That means, he’s doubly dangerous. Not only can he affect the physical world, he can move around. Andthatmakes him a Haunt. Haunts are dangerous.”
“Yes, they are,” Brenda said. “I grew up in Whisper Hollow. I know all too much about Haunts.” She sighed. “What do we do? He’ll ruin any relationship I manage to get into. If I even manage to find someone.”
“Well, we have to exorcise him,” I said. “We’ll get rid of him.”
“Are you trained to do that?” she asked.
I’d done several house clearings over the years, and I’d dealt with spirits off and on, but I wasn’t confident in my ability to take on the bigger nasties and come out without something going awry.
“Well, I’m not entirely sure. But my aunt’s good at it, and maybe she’d be willing to help out?—”
“Maybe I’d be willing to help out on what?” Astra asked, entering the dining room, a platter of chicken tenders in one hand, and a basket of rolls in the other. “Can you set the table, please?”
I jumped up. “I’ll be right back.”
Gathering the plates, silverware, and the salad, I managed to balance all of them and return to the table without any accidents. We sorted out the dishes and settled in for lunch.
“We think Brenda’s late husband is haunting her,” I said.
“I thought back to every time I’ve started to look at dating again. Each time, something happens—never anything good—that totally disrupts my plans. Ghostly activity, appliances breaking down so that I have to focus on home repair, the car’s brakes going—I was in an accident a couple years back, and it could have been deadly. I was lucky that the other driver was able to get out of the way. I spun into a tree, but hit on the backside of the car, on the passenger side. Luckily, I was able to get out and away before the fire started.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” I said. “I can’t imagine how scary the accident yesterday must have been for you.”
Brenda nodded. “I do have some PTSD over it, and yesterday didn’t help. That’s one reason I let them take me to the hospital. I wanted to make certain everything was okay.”
“If Edgar is trying to stop you from dating, then he’s angry at you…or he loved you so much that?—”
“Angry would be correct,” Brenda said. “He didn’t want me when he had me, but he didn’t want me to be happy with anybody else. He refused to get a divorce, even though I asked him a couple times. I would have left, but he frightened me. And then, our people don’t condone divorce. He hadn’t outright hit me, so I didn’t have a case for the council. And now, I have the house, I have the money, and he’s…dead.”
Astra set down her fork and closed her eyes. “I can feel him poking around. He’s trying to break through the wards, to hear what we’re talking about. But he can’t.”
“This time.I think hewasthe snake creature,” I said. “Brenda’s had several nightmares about me being in danger.”
“You’re trying to help me,” Brenda said. “Now that we’re talking about this, I cansosee Edgar trying to hurt you.”
“We wondered if you might be able to help me exorcise Edgar,” I said, turning to Astra. “I’m afraid that I’m not strong enough.”
“I disagree, but I can help,this time. But I think you need to develop these abilities on your own,” my aunt said. “You’re going to need them, and I can’t always be there. So I want you to sign up for some remedial classes at Midnight Manor Academy. They have continuing adult education.”
“Whatever you say,” I said. “So, what do we do first?”
“First?” Astra said. “First, we enjoy lunch. Then, we’ll strategize and take care of your ex for good.”
After lunch,Brenda left, heading back to her hotel. I brought up the Midnight Manor website and clicked on the section for continuing education, and scrolled through the offerings. Astra had given me a list of what I should take. The school worked on a semester system, and the new semester had started, but there were still a couple of days to enroll.
I found a basic exorcism class, along with a class on cryptozoology that sounded interesting, and a class on advanced protection. That was all the credit load I could handle, along with running my business, so I added them to the cart—so to speak—and hitcheckout.
Unlike regular classes, I didn’t need to be enrolled to take them.
I entered my credit card information, printed out the receipt and the schedule, and stared at the page. I’d basically signedaway any free time I had. My first class was next week, and I’d have classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings.
“Are you almost ready to go? Nightshade will be waiting and the last thing we want is to be late. One thing you need to know about her: if we have a meeting, be there on time. She doesn’t tolerate tardiness, and it’s a good way to get assigned to the grunt chores of the coven. It doesn’t matter what seniority level you’re at. I spent an entire month being in charge of tending the compost for the Dark Moon Society’s herb garden tow years ago, and that wasn’t my idea of fun, even though I’m an earth witch.”
“When are meetings? I signed up for three classes, each one meets one day a week. Or evening, rather.” If I joined the Society, I didn’t want to get stuck with mucking around in decaying vegetable matter.
“Saturday nights, except on the week of the Full Moon, then we meet that night. But the academy understands, and with continuing education classes, it’s not like you’ll get kicked out of school.” Astra had changed into a nice pantsuit, rather than her jeans and T-shirt. “Go dress, and hurry up. We don’t want to be late.”
“What should I wear?” I had no clue what one wore when meeting a high priestess.
